Non Compos Mentis
by Dragonflyr
Summary: Welcome to the Ichigaki Mental Health Institution. These walls house some of the most dangerous of the clinically insane. Some claim to see ghosts or possess powers or even that they are not human. But be warned: something sinister lurks in these halls.
1. Check In

The taxi ride was long and silent. I leaned my head wearily against the window, watching the trees streak past in a blur of brown and green. No other cars were traveling this road, but why would they? No one else had any reason to travel to the same destination as I on this crisp spring morning.

One suitcase sat in the seat beside me. All of my worldly possessions still allowed to me were contained in that one suitcase. My life as I had known it all summed up in one brown, medium sized rectangle.

I wanted very badly to stop the driver and tell him to turn around and take me home. I wanted to race back through the forest-lined back roads back to the city, back to my house, back to my mother. But I could not do that.

This was, after all, my decision. It had been my decision to drag a razor across my pale flesh on an almost nightly basis. It had been my decision to ingest an entire bottle of aspirin and chase it with a bottle of vodka. And now it was my decision to seek help. Mother insisted that I did not need to go this far, that some counseling at home would be enough. She might have been right, but I needed more than just counseling. I needed to get away. Away from her new husband who thought I was too feminine and now a freak as well, who offered me no warmth and no love; away from the school that worshiped and adored me, smothering me in their constant attention; and, yes, I even needed to get away from her, my own mother. I needed a new environment altogether, and one where I would get the help I sorely needed.

Even my mother's comfort could not make the voice in my head stop. She could not banish this other presence in my mind, or stop Hatanaka's disapproval of her _non compos mentis_ son. The voice had been quite today, for which I was thankful. It…he…claimed to be a demon, a thief that had taken refuge in my body to save his life. He was Youko Kurama, the greatest thief in all Makai, the demon world that is. I still remember the doctor's carefully masked face when I revealed all of this, how my mother burst into tears and how Hatanaka glared at me as though I had suddenly sprouted two heads. I had worried Youko would supply some of his witty interjections as I bid my tearful mother farewell this morning, but he had remained silent.

"There it is," the driver commented almost cheerfully, breaking me from my thoughts, "The Ichigaki Mental Health Institution."

I gazed up at the cold, soulless building as we entered the gates. The white paint was chipping off the walls and the few trees and bushes there were around the place looked sickly and stunted. I looked up at the windows and for a second saw a small, pale face with dark raven hair swept up like a black flame peering back at me. I blinked and it was gone.

The brakes gave a brief whine as the car came to a stop. Taking a deep breath I grabbed my suitcase and calmly stepped out of the car. A young doctor came out of the front door and waved as he descended the steps to meet me. He looked hardly out of medical school and not that much older than myself.

"Minamino Shuichi, I presume," he offered me his hand. I nodded and shook it, his kindly brown eyes at once putting me at ease.

"My name is Dr. Koenma," he introduced himself, "and welcome to Ichigaki."

"Um…thank you," I replied, a bit caught off guard at being welcomed so warmly to an insane asylum.

"Please, come in and let me show you around," he said. I managed a weak smile and paused only long enough to pay the taxi driver before letting the doctor lead me inside. As we climbed the steps I heard the rumble of the taxi starting once more followed by the creak and dull clank of metal on metal as the gates closed behind it. I did not turn to see it go. There was no turning back now.

"This," Dr. Koenma said as he held the door opened for me, "is the men's ward. There is a women's ward as well in a separate building a little ways beyond this one. However, this building is the only one that contains solitary confinement chambers and so any patients, of both genders, in need of solitude are brought here." Again I marveled at how cheerfully all of this information was relayed to me. We walked down a short hallway that ended in a gate, not unlike those used in prisons, and a check-in station.

"You'll need to sign these," Dr. Koenma said as he handed me a clipboard, "and I'm afraid we'll have to check that," he added, nodding at my suitcase. I traded the suitcase for the clipboard and calmly signed my name here and initialed there as the doctor searched my underwear for hidden scalpels and smuggled dope. After confiscating my nail clippers he was satisfied and returned my suitcase. I in turn gave him the signed forms, which he handed over to the nurse behind the desk. She smiled at me and then pressed a button on the corner of her desk. A beep echoed above us and the door clicked open.

"Allow me show you to your room," Dr. Koenma offered. I nodded and followed him in, hearing the loud click of the door shutting and locking behind us. We entered a large commons area with couches, chairs, tables, and a television mounted on one wall. There were nine or ten people milling about but I ignored them and kept my gaze fixed straight ahead, or at least that is what I tried to do.

I nearly jumped as an arm draped itself around my shoulders. I turned to see a teenage boy about my age grinning at me. His black hair gleamed with gel that smelled of peppermint and insecticide. Bright chocolate eyes shone at me.

"Hey new guy," he greeted. "Are you the Demon's new roommate?" I blinked. The Demon? He continued before I could answer. "The name's Urameshi Yusuke, the toughest guy at Ichigaki."

"The hell you are!" was the cry from across the room. A copper haired teen was suddenly on my other side, his hair also slick with gel and his onyx eyes burning. "I'm Kuwabara Kazuma, the real toughest guy at Ichigaki!"

"Yeah, and that's why you carry a stuffed cat around with you all the time," Urameshi replied. I had to fight hard not to laugh when I noticed what the teen was talking about. Sure enough Kuwabara was holding a stuffed tabby cat in one arm.

"Shut up about Eikichi!" Kuwabara yelled and I had to duck as he swung at Urameshi with his free arm. I managed to get out from between them just in time before an all out brawl broke out. Behind me I heard Dr. Koenma sigh.

"Both of you nitwits stop it!" I turned to see an old woman in nurse's uniform stomping towards the fighting teens. What she lacked in height she more than made up for in strength and temper. She grabbed both boys by their collars and yanked them apart. "I can't turn my back for a second and not turn around to find you two fighting again!" she practically screamed. "Now I want both of you to go to separate sides of this room and stay there!" Kuwabara nodded and offered a weak "yes, ma'am" before stalking to a corner, petting his stuffed cat. Urameshi on the other hand straightened his shirt and huffed, "Whatever, Grandma," as he went to join a card game.

"Shuichi," Dr. Koenma stepped forward to address me, "this is our head nurse, Genkai."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," I said with a bow. I felt it was best to get on her good side immediately and stay there. She looked me up and down and then smiled.

"Well," she said, extending her hand, "I think you might turn out to be the best behaved young man we've seen here in a while." I shook the offered hand and would have asked who 'the Demon' was, but another nurse with blue hair came hurrying up and whispered something in the old woman's ear, after which Genkai bade me a hasty goodbye and hurried away.

Feeling slightly lightheaded and overwhelmed, I again followed Dr. Koenma as he led me out of the commons, past the nurse's station, and down a long hallway. He opened a door on the right about halfway down and beckoned me inside.

"This will be your room," he announced. It was small and white, like everything else here. There were two small, white beds with a lamp resting one a nightstand between them. There was a window above the nightstand, far too small for a person to fit through, of course, but a window nonetheless. A white chest of drawers stood against one wall and a desk, the only thing in the room not white, against another. There was a small closet on the last wall.

I remembered Urameshi's words and yet for a moment wondered if I really had a roommate. There were no personal effects in the room, nothing to suggest that anyone used it. The two beds were identical with no apparent difference between which one was taken and which was open. However, Dr. Koenma quickly dispelled my doubts.

"You're roommate's name is Hiei," he said.

"Why did Urameshi call him 'the Demon'?" I inquired. The doctor looked at me for a long moment, as though debating whether or not to tell me the truth, and then sighed. "Hiei's condition is not so much unlike your own. He believes he is a demon and possesses, well, powers. It's actually not such an uncommon delusion to have, as I think you will discover in your stay here. Anyway, Dr. Yomi will be overseeing your treatment. You will meet with him on Thursday afternoons. Breakfast is at seven, lunch at eleven, and dinner at five. Lights out at ten. I'll leave you to get unpacked now."

He closed the door behind him and I stood alone and uncertain, staring helplessly at the white, sterile room. Hoping I would not upset my roommate by accidentally taking his bed, I eventually chose the right one and sat down heavily upon it. Propping my suitcase against the nightstand I stretched out on the bed. I frowned at the view of the white ceiling that greeted me and covered my face with my hands.

'_Welcome to the Funny Farm, Shuichi.'_ I jumped at the voice and looked around. I was still alone. I groaned.

"You are the reason why I am here, Youko,"I said aloud, closing my eyes once more.

"Who are you talking to?" a deep voice asked. I jumped again and looked to find the door open. A short boy was standing there staring at me. He might have been my age but then he might have been older, it was hard to tell. He looked familiar and it took me a minute to recognize him as the face I had seen in the window when I arrived. Now that I could see him more clearly I saw that a white starburst adorned his hair and noted with some curiosity that his unnatural style bore no evidence of gel. _'Must use hairspray,'_ I thought. His eyes are what really drew my attention though. I had never seen eyes like that before. They were deep crimson and glinting with malice, unsettling and threatening. Truly these were the eyes of a lunatic.

"Who are you talking to?" he repeated a bit more forcefully, obviously annoyed at my refusal to answer. Quickly I shook my head.

"No one," I answered.

"No one," he repeated, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him. "You were talking to no one." It was a statement, not a question. I nodded hesitantly, beginning to feel nervous. "That's not possible," he said simply. I opened my mouth to protest but he hurried on. "If you were talking to yourself then it is yourself you were talking to. You are not 'no one' and so you could not have been talking to 'no one'."

I blinked uncertainly. I had never heard such strange logic and yet in an odd way it made sense. He was still a staring at me and suddenly I realized he was waiting for me to respond. But how was I supposed to respond to that?

"I was not talking to myself," I answered truthfully. He stared at me hard for a moment.

"But you were the only one here. Therefore…you were talking to someone else within you, but not you, correct?" I had to go over that sentence three times in my mind before I finally decided it was right and nodded.

"Who is he?" the boy asked.

"Who?"

"Youko."

I stared at him for a long moment wondering if I should tell him. I had no doubt he would believe me, after all he believed he himself was a demon, but I did not want anyone to believe me. The point of being here was to convince myself it was not true, was it not? Surely then it would only hurt me and him as well if we indulged in this fantasy tighter.

"He is not me." I finally answered.

"Who are you?" he replied.

"Minamino Shuichi," I answered. He suddenly shook his head violently.

"No, what is your _name_?" he asked. My brow furrowed in confusion. Hadn't I just told him my name?

"Minamino Shu—" In an instant he had crossed the room and was standing beside the bed, glaring at me.

"No!" he shouted again. "Not your human name!" The word human was uttered like something disgusting and foul. "Tell me your _true_ name!"

"I don't—"

"Youko is a demon," he said suddenly, silencing me immediately. How did he know that? Had Dr. Koenma told him? "You are part human and part demon, both and neither. Now tell me your name!" I stared at him, feeling myself slowly edging away from him on the bed. He slammed his fist down on the nightstand, rattling the lamp. "TELL ME!"

"Hiei! What is going on in here?" I looked up to see that the blue haired nurse from before was standing in the doorway.

"Stay out of this, woman!" Hiei shouted back at her.

"Hiei, stop it! You're scaring him!" she cried, coming into the room and grabbing an arm. He went very still and the stillness after his sudden outburst unnerved me to no end.

"Let. Go. Of. Me," he growled. The girl hesitated but did not let go. She seemed used to his threats.

"Come on." She tried to pull him to the door but he refused to move. "Hiei," she finally said in a stern voice, "come with me right now or I am going to have to sedate you. The choice is yours." There was a long tense moment where nothing happened. The suspense in the air was suffocating. Slowly his feet began to move. His glare never left me as he slowly allowed himself to be pulled from the room.

I stared at the empty doorway, only now aware that my entire body was shaking. I had no idea what he was talking about. My true name? I wondered if I could request a new roommate. And yet, something dispelled that thought immediately. Some part of me that saw a connection to this obviously troubled young man. Whether it was through our shared delusion or something more I did not know. Though I did wonder how he knew about Youko.

'_Because you're not crazy,' _Youko's voice was like a cold bucket of water and at once I was over my shock.

"Shut up," I whispered as I retrieved my suitcase and began unpacking. "You have already gotten me into enough trouble today."

* * *

Well this is a story I've had for a while but never actually written out. It was inspired by the movie _Girl, Interrupted_ and since I was watching it earlier today it finally spurred me to actually write this story out. I know you all are going to hate me for starting yet another new story when I have left you hanging for so long on my others (coughEyewashcough) but I really had to do this. Actually, you'd be surprised how little I really have to change the characters to make them all seem like homicidal sociopaths. It's kind of disturbing really. Oh, and the title is a Latin phrase that means "not of sound mind." So, I hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review. 


	2. Tour

Wow! I don't think I've ever gotten such an incredible response just for the first chapter before! I guess I must have hit on a good idea, huh? Well, I've kept you waiting almost a week and that's long enough. I hope I live up to your expectations.

* * *

I closed the last drawer and slid my empty suitcase under the bed. The room was beginning to feel small and claustrophobic and I decided to go back to the commons room. Hiei had not come back yet and that gave me all the more reason to leave before he reappeared. I checked the hall for my dark haired roommate and, finding it deserted, left my room.

I walked down the dimly lit hallway, my footsteps echoing all around me. I could only imagine what gruesome aspect this place must take on at night.

'_You'll not have to wait long to find out,'_ Youko's voice was back again. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to ignore it. My whole purpose in being here was in silencing him, a goal I would accomplish no matter how taxing the fight.

When I emerged into the brighter commons I found myself again looking around for Hiei. I do not know if I wanted to find him or not, but no matter which was the case he was not there. Kuwabara was still sulking in a corner, whispering to his cat as he stroked it. A few other patients I had not met were watching TV. I stood there stupidly, feeling like a lost child. I was about to go dejectedly back to my room when a familiar voice stopped me.

"Hey, new guy!" I looked over to find Urameshi smiling and waving. He was playing cards at a table with two other patients. I managed to smile back as I quickly joined them.

"Hey, glad to see you're still alive. The way Hiei was screaming I wasn't sure Botan would get there in time to save you. I don't think I caught your name before," he said as I took the chair next to him.

"It's Shuichi," I supplied, "Minamino Shuichi. And you are Urameshi, correct?"

"Just call me Yusuke," he grinned again. His light mood was contagious. I found myself wondering why he was here. He had no obvious signs of illness. He did not lash out at people or talk to stuffed animals. I supposed he could be hiding it, just as I had hidden Youko for years.

"These guys have the room across from yours," Yusuke said, nodding at his fellow card players. "The redhead is Jin and that's Touya." I nodded at both of them.

"Pleasure to meet ya, it is. Always nice to see a new face," Jin said enthusiastically, or he said something very similar. It was hard to tell. His speech was very rapid and his thick Irish – or perhaps it was Scottish – accent made him difficult to understand. One look at him and it was obvious that he was full to bursting with energy. He could hardly sit still in his seat and he kept reorganizing the cards in his hand every few minutes. Touya was much more remote, colder. He looked at my critically and I got the impression he was trying to determine whether or not I was a threat. His glare was downright glacial. He impressed upon me the cool attitude of someone secluded, who rarely lost his temper. I had the sudden thought that this man was ice itself and Hiei, in comparison, was fire: two extremes, two polar opposites.

"You want in?" Yusuke urged me to join the game. I hesitated and honestly do not know if I would have accepted or not because I never go the chance. The sudden incessant chirping of birds floated in through the open window and a flock of sparrows went careening past. Jin's excitement exploded.

He uttered some manner of ecstatic, garbled nonsense far too quickly for me to catch and then threw himself at the window. Touya and Yusuke made to grab him, knocking the table over and scatter cards everywhere in the process, but they missed and in a moment the redhead had disappeared out the window.

"Genkai, he went after the damn birds again!" Yusuke yelled as he picked himself up off the floor. The old woman came hurrying into the room and stared out the window, watching Jin run circles through the grass, arms outstretched like a child.

"Why didn't you stop him!?" she barked.

"I tried!" Yusuke shot back. For a moment I thought the fight would continue, but the old woman just sighed and shook her head.

"I'm getting too old for this," she muttered as she left the room, presumably to go collect the runaway redhead. "And clean that mess up!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke muttered as he began picking up cards while Touya set the table upright once more. I sat unmoving in my chair, staring at the window. Yusuke must have caught my gaze because he shrugged and explained, "He thinks he can fly."

"Oh…" I said, trying to sound like I found his response perfectly reasonable and completely commonplace. "Does he…throw himself out of windows often?"

"Only when he sees a bird or something, and it's actually not as bad as it used to be," Yusuke said as though we were discussing the weather. "He's down to about once a month now. You should have seen him before. I'm telling ya, it's a good thing only the windows on the ground floor open or he'd have broken his neck by now."

I was suddenly overcome by the feeling of wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. If I had heard that story in any other context I might have laughed. In a novel or a movie it was humorous, funny, entertaining. But this was no novel or movie, this was my life. From this day on I would have to live day-in and day-out with this man who launched himself out of windows. I would have to eat my meals with a young man whose only close companion in life seemed to be a stuffed feline. I would have to share a room with a temperamental, testy, terrifying roommate who, for all I knew, might try to kill me in my sleep. This was my life and there was absolutely nothing funny about it.

"Are you alright?" Yusuke asked. Coming back to myself I realized my cheeks felt wet and hurriedly scrubbed at my face.

"Yes," I said after a long, calming breath, "yes, I'm fine." Yusuke stared at me and I knew instinctively that he was thinking up a scheme to cheer me up. That was the kind of person Yusuke was. He liked everyone to be happy. Suddenly his eyes lit up.

"I know. I'll give you a tour!" he announced.

"A tour?"

"Sure! I'll show you something you'll never forget." He was talking almost as fast and as excited as Jin. Grabbing my hand he yanked me from my seat and began to drag me down the hall. As the end came into sight I wondered which way he would go. Directly ahead was a set of doors, the stairs to the upper floors which could also be accessed by elevators in the commons. Another perpendicular hallway branched left and right. Yusuke stopped before the doors and turned to me with a broad grin.

"Down there," he said, pointing to the left," is the cafeteria and the infirmary. But it's what's down there," he turned to stare ominously down the right-hand hallway, "that's really interesting." His eyes sparkled with a mixture of excitement and boyish mischief. A moment of silence passed between us and I realized he was waiting for me to display some sort of burning curiosity before he continued. I shook my head lightly at his childishness and decided to indulge him.

"What is down there that is so interesting, Yusuke?" I asked innocently.

"Solitary confinement." His teeth flashed in the dim light as he smiled shamelessly and for a moment I found it disturbing how much he was enjoying this, how he considered gawking at suffering people as though they were exhibits in a zoo, treating them as some sort of freak show, entertainment. Perhaps he did have a dark reason for being here.

"Come on," he urged impatiently, pulling at my arm like an anxious child. Hesitantly I followed. I knew I should not go with him, but somehow I found myself unable to resist. I suppose I was curious about what sorts of people were confined to isolation, or maybe I am really just as sadistic as Yusuke. Whatever the reason, it is one of the few decisions I have ever made that I genuinely regret.

The hall was even darker than the main one with almost every light burnt out completely. The ones that still worked did so pitifully, flickering and buzzing in the dark. More than once I found myself glancing over my shoulder, as though expecting something to jump out of the shadows and attack me at any moment.

"This place was built in the fifties," Yusuke said, catching one of my nervous glances. 'This part of the building hasn't been renovated in a long time. It's kind of creepy, huh? Like a horror movie." His face was half hidden in shadows but I got the feeling he was grinning again. Yusuke's company had seemed so comforting a few minutes ago, how could it have become so unnerving so quickly?

We passed numerous rooms, all of them dark. Yusuke's steps quickened when we finally saw light ahead, pouring out through the small window in the door and spilling across the floor in a bright puddle.

"We only have two people in solitary right now," he said as he peered through the glass. He turned to me and gestured excitedly. "Take a look."

He moved aside and slowly I stepped up to the door. The small room was half the size of mine, containing only a small bed pushed up against one wall. There was no window, no glass portal to the outside world, save the small half-foot square I was looking through. Looking at such a dreary, empty living space gave me a new appreciation for my own cramped room. At least mine was cluttered with furniture.

Movement caught my eye and I noticed a figure on the floor, huddled in the far corner. He was far too thin and his long, white hair cascaded to the floor, fanning out on the tile around him. He looked too young for that white hair. Slowly, as though it was a great effort to move, he looked up and met my gaze. I felt myself stiffen. The eyes that met mine were bloodshot and crazed. He had the eyes of a rabid animal.

His sudden movement belied the weariness he had only just displayed. Indeed, I did not even realize he had moved until his face was pressed against the glass, hot breath fogging it. With a startled cry I fell back and landed hard on the cold floor. He glared at me for a moment more before retreating from my sight, leaving a steamy spot on the glass. I became aware Yusuke's laughter was echoing through the hall and turned to him infuriated, humiliated, and breathing hard.

"That was _not_ funny!" I gasped, slowly getting up off the floor to stand on shaky legs. He stopped laughing and the quickness of it, the sudden absence of sound as the echoes dwindled away, sent a shiver down my spine. I was beginning to understand that Yusuke was a very delicate person, with the potential to be as dangerous as Hiei.

"That's Raizen," he said good-naturedly. I coughed to hide my obvious discomfort at his wild mood swings. "He refuses to eat. Oh, and he's a bit violent." I only stared at him as he turned briskly and stared down the hallway once more. I almost did not follow him. I almost went back. But I did not. With one last glance at Raizen's steamy window I let Yusuke lead me further into the darkness.

We did not have to go far to find the other occupied room. A light loomed ahead of us like a beacon in the dark. Yusuke stepped up to it without hesitation and peered inside.

"This is Mukuro," he said, again stepping aside and waiting for me to look. I wanted to leave. I wanted to turn and run back down the hallway as fast as I could. But I did not. I stepped forward and peered through the glass.

A figure sat on the bed with its head down. I could not tell if it was male or female. Sadness and despair seemed to radiate off it in waves that I could feel even through the thick door. Just as Raizen had, the figure seemed to sense me there and looked up. I gasped. One side of its face was horribly burned. The eye, the cheek, everything was nothing but a mess of twisted flesh that made my stomach clench. It was not red and glossy like a burn from flames but lifeless and grey. Acid perhaps? I stared in fascination, in pure morbid curiosity. The creature inside stared back with its one good eye, never breaking my gaze.

Without warning something grabbed me from behind and slammed me into the wall. Hard. The breath was knocked out of me and my eyes shut reflexively as bright spots of light danced before them. I blinked them away and, when I could focus again, found myself staring directly into seething red irises.

"You bastard!" Hiei growled. His hand shot to my throat and squeezed, cutting off my air.

"Hiei, stop!" Yusuke tried to pry my roommate off of me as my head began to swim from the lack of oxygen. "You're going to kill him!"

"He deserves it!" Hiei spat. For the briefest moment his eyes shifted to Yusuke. "And you're next." Yusuke froze at that threat and Hiei managed a left hook to Yusuke's face with his free hand. The spots before my eyes were back and I felt cold sweat on my neck and back as I realized he really was going to kill me.

"Hi—" I tried to choke out his name but his hold was too restricting.

"Hiei, I made him come!" Yusuke cried from the floor, wiping blood from his split lip on his sleeve. Hiei's grip relaxed enough for me to breathe a little, though only enough to keep me from passing out. His attention was on Yusuke now, who hurried on in my defense. "It was my idea and I made him come. He wasn't even enjoying it. Raizen scared the crap out of him."

Those blood red eyes shifted to me again. I stared back, terrified to make any move in case it was the wrong one. Suddenly his other hand grabbed my shoulder and in one fluid motion he turned me around and forced my face against Mukuro's window, all without breaking his hold on my neck.

"Do you pity her?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. I hesitated. What did he want me to say?

"Do you pity her?!" he yelled louder, banging my head against the glass. I looked at her again. She stared back at me as calmly as before.

"What happened to her?" I whispered before I could stop myself. I waited breathlessly, wondering what Hiei's reaction would be.

"She burned herself." His voice was calm, gentle even. If I had not heard it myself I would not have believed he was capable of such an almost caring tone of voice.

"She did that to herself?"

"She poured acid on herself." He did not say this with the same careless matter-of-factness Yusuke would have used. It was still emotionless, still matter-of-fact, but definitely not careless.

"Why?" Hiei's hand had eased in its hold on my throat and now was loosely resting beneath my chin, allowing me ample room to breathe.

"She wanted to maker herself less attractive. So her father would stop raping her." I hated myself the moment those words left his mouth. I loathed myself. I almost wished Hiei was still strangling me. At least that was better than the unbearable pain that blossomed in my heart at that moment. What further damage had I dealt this poor soul, gawking at her like she was a specimen in a bottle? I should never have gone with Yusuke. I should have turned back at the first hint of his malicious sense of humor. God, I can be an idiot sometimes.

"Do you pity her?" Hiei asked again, much quieter than before. My vision was quickly being obscured by hot tears and I dropped my head shamefully, shaking it slowly.

"No," I whispered. "I pity myself."

Hiei's withdrew his hands from me. I assume he must have threatened Yusuke once more before he left, or maybe Yusuke was already gone because by the time I felt strong enough to turn around I was alone in the hall.

Hugging myself I started back down the hall alone. I suddenly felt exhausted and concentrated my gaze on my feet as I walked, my only goal to make it back to my room and go promptly to sleep. I doubted Hiei would bother me now. I had just passed Raizen's room when an unfamiliar voice rang out down the hallway.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met." My head shot up to see a tall man standing in front of me. He had long black hair, longer even than mine, and piercing violet eyes. A mask covered his lower face, like a beak. He reminded me of a crow.

"My name is Karasu," he said silkily. Something about him made goose bumps rise up on my arms. After the disaster that Yusuke turned out to be I decided not to ignore my instincts again. I remained silent, watching him closely. He took a step forward and I took one back, stepping into the light streaming from Raizen's door.

"You know," he said, moving forward again, "it's common courtesy to offer your name when someone gives you theirs." The muscles in my jaw clenched as he took two much faster strides forward and was suddenly right next to me. A pale hand reached out to hover around my neck. I shivered, despite the fact that he did not actually touch me.

"That's a nasty bruise," he said. His hand moved up to caress my cheek. "It's a good thing he didn't mar your beautiful face or I would have had to kill him myself." The moment the cool fingertips touched my skin I panicked.

My movements made clumsy by fear, I managed to shove him away from me and run down the hall before he could recover. I heard his footsteps behind me, or maybe that was just the echo of my own footfalls. I ran faster, almost loosing my balance when I tried to take a hard left as I finally emerged from the cursed hallway. There were more people in the main hall now, probably going to dinner, and I weaved and dodged between them, never daring to look back. My door came into sight and I lunged at it, sweaty palms slipping over the smooth doorknob. Finally I managed to turn it and threw the door opened, tumbled through, and slammed it behind me.

I laid there against the door, panting and shaking, trying desperately to get a hold on myself and failing miserably. Even Youko had no snide comments or witty remarks to offer. When I bothered to look around the room I froze. Hiei was sitting on his bed watching me. He made no move to help me, only sat there staring. However, as I looked at him I almost immediately felt calmer, safer. In a few minutes I had managed to return my breathing and heartbeat to normal. Now that my crisis was over an awkward silence hung between us.

"Hiei," I began. His gaze intensified and I almost looked away, but I knew I needed to say this to him directly. "I am sorry."

"Yusuke's an idiot," he shrugged. And just like that the tension was gone. The ghost of a smile pulled at my lips and I slowly got off the floor and crossed the room to my bed. I laid down on it gratefully. Glancing at the window I saw that the sun was setting and sighed. My gaze drifted to Hiei and I found myself staring at my odd roommate. In the span of a few hours he had threatened to kill me twice and now acted as though we were old friends. I knew my words in the hallway and my apology a moment ago must have changed his mind about me, but I was too tired from the day's events to worry about where we stood now. At least it did not appear as though I was an enemy any longer. Tucking one arm up under the pillow I hoped everyday would not be as harrowing as this before I drifted off into oblivion.


End file.
